FROM PAGE ONE
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2022
Ukraine demonstration to take place in La Grande
Organizers say it
will be a chance
for unity
By ALEX WITTWER
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — A
demonstration in solidarity
with Ukraine will take
place in La Grande’s Max
Square on Saturday, March
12.
The demonstration —
organized by Union County
residents Anne Morrison,
Cheryl Simpson and Kate
Gekeler — will include
a booth for donations to
humanitarian eff orts in
Ukraine, a kids table, and
live music featuring Al
“Too Loud” MacLeod.
Donations will go to three
organizations that provide
LIBERTY
Continued from Page A1
chain issues that made it
much more diffi cult to get
the necessary supplies and
materials.
What has really made
the situation worse is that
the price of many mate-
rials has skyrocketed due
to inflation.
“Some materials cost
four or five times more
than they did before the
pandemic,” O’Toole said.
This perfect storm of
circumstances means that
the Liberty renovation
project is now set back
considerably. O’Toole
said that if the restoration
is to be completed this
year, $600,000 must be
raised.
O’Toole said that had
there not been a pan-
demic, the work could
easily have been com-
pleted before today.
“That absolutely would
have been true,” he said.
“Had it not been for the
pandemic and the price
increases, the theater
would be open now.”
Unfortunately, that
is not the case, which is
aid to Ukrainian citizens
and refugees.
“The purpose of this is
to show unity for the people
of Ukraine, and what
they’re going through right
now,” Morrison said of the
event that begins at noon.
The Russian invasion of
Ukraine has transfi xed the
world as the humanitarian
toll rises. Already, reports
estimate that nearly 1.7 mil-
lion Ukrainian citizens have
become refugees.
Gekeler, who organized
a food drive at Eastern
Oregon University last
month, said the aim of the
demonstration is to raise
funds and awareness for the
people of Ukraine.
“We wanted to do it
while it’s still in the media
and money can still get
into Ukraine,” she said.
“As things progress, it gets
more and more diffi cult
to get funds in to actually
help people, and we want to
make sure we can do that
before things shut down.”
Western countries,
including the United States,
have imposed increasingly
heavy sanctions against
Russia in the two weeks
since the invasion began on
Feb. 24, including limiting
fi nances and money trans-
fers from Russian banks
and fi nancial institutions,
halting construction of the
Nord Stream 2 natural gas
pipeline between Russia
and Germany and targeted
sanctions against Russia’s
top oligarchs.
The United States
announced March 8 that
it would no longer pur-
chase Russian crude
oil, striking at Russia’s
energy sector in the latest
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
A small group of demonstrators gather Wednesday, March 2, 2022,
on the sidewalk at Roy Raley Park in Pendleton to show solidarity
with Ukraine. A similar demonstration is planned for La Grande on
Saturday, March 12, at Max Square beginning at noon.
round of sanctions.
The growing crisis has
left Morrison appalled. She
said the demonstration will
allow residents to “come
out and express their feel-
ings and feel like they’re
expressing their unity with
people in Ukraine.”
“It’s horrifying to think
that Russia has invaded
a neighboring country,”
she said. “Europe has
already been through a
war not really all that
long ago and Russia has
started another war. I
think that if Russia pre-
vails, it will be extremely
repressive and oppressive
for the people who live in
Ukraine, and that’s causing
so much damage now in the
entire country, disrupting
everything.”
Gekeler noted that the
demonstration will not be
partisan.
“This is an opportunity
for unity,” she said. “We
have gone out of our way to
make sure that the liberal
groups as well as the con-
servatives and progressives
have all gotten specifi c invi-
tations because this is not
about party politics. This
is human beings caring
about other human beings,
and that’s something we all
agree on.”
“I am having to use my imagination
less and less to visualize what it will
look like.”
— Ashley O’Toole, chair of the Liberty Theatre Foundation board
why a capital campaign
is being organized for the
final phase of restoration
for the Liberty Theatre.
O’Toole said the objec-
tive of the campaign is to
raise $350,000 in private
donations and $250,000 in
state and private grants by
July 1.
“If we can close the
funding gap by then, the
theater will be open this
year,” O’Toole said.
The historic venue was
built around 1910 and first
named The Arcade. It
became known as the Lib-
erty Theatre about 1930
after being remodeled.
It then operated through
1959. The theater was
closed from public view
for about the next 50 years
before the renovation
project started.
Major work completed
over the past six months
includes the restoration
of the theater’s more than
100-year-old chandelier.
The chandelier, which cost
$10,000, features 42 lights.
The framework for a
ticket booth also has been
installed between a pair of
double twin doors, exactly
where it was located in
1930.
“We are re-creating
the classic vaudeville
entrance,” O’Toole said.
Other work still being
done includes major
plumbing, electrical and
ventilation and heating
projects. O’Toole said
workers have accom-
plished more the past six
months than during any
other periods during res-
toration of the venue.
“It is exciting to see us
reaching major milestones
frequently,” he said.
Although much work
remains to be done,
O’Toole is excited about
the strides that have been
made recently.
“I am having to use my
imagination less and less
to visualize what it will
look like,” he said.
Dick Mason/The Observer
Ashley O’Toole, chair of the Liberty Theatre Foundation’s board, checks on the ongoing renovation of
La Grande’s historic venue on Monday, March 7, 2022.
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